Last weekend (28th/29th March) the very first Dutch Comic Con took place in Utrecht. It was a vast and ambitious event, drawing in 20,000 visitors.

Everything is better with Batmobiles

Fate didn’t want me to attend. I arrived at Heathrow to find that all Amsterdam flights had been cancelled due to the biggest power outages in Dutch history. (My jinx effect usually only strikes down locations after I arrive in them, not before.) I waited it out, however, and a mere six-and-a-half hours later was on a flight to Amsterdam, laughing at puny Fate.

Guests included artists, animators, actors, cosplayers and a few writers, including me. I was stationed at the signing table at the stall for the American Book Center, which had its own treehouse complete with owls.

The cosplayers were particularly resplendent. Regrettably I didn’t get a picture of the Jazzguls (Ringwraiths with slope hats) but I did catch these:

Titan from the anime “Attack on Titan”

The fairground folk

Pirate Harley Quinn

I also seized the chance to explore Utrecht a little.

Medieval canals, flanked by water-level wharfs and vaulted cafes, with the Dom Tower in the distance

The lady who plays the huge carillon of the Dom Tower takes requests, and once even played a fragment of ‘Gangnam Style’.

I was also introduced to delicious Dutch pancakes. Later, when I was back at Schipol airport preparing to fly home, I discovered this Giant Red Button in the Touch Down cafeteria.

When I pressed the button, the lamp spun and a siren sounded. Then a man appeared and made me a pancake.

I considered prising the whole thing off the counter and trying to take it home, to see whether its summoning powers worked there too. Sadly, I wasn’t sure I could smuggle a stolen pancake-generator through customs…

Many thanks to Dutch Comic Con, the American Book Center, Corinne Duyvis and everyone else for an excellent weekend!